An equivalent is available at most auto parts outlets–for a whole he77 of a lot less per quart. Make sure that you choose someone who knows what he/she is doing in both adding to, or changing the fluid. If you have over 30K on the present fluid, time to change it or at whatever miles the manufacturer recommends. Stay away from a “transmission flush”. You most likely don’t need a “flush”. Your knowledgeable mechanic can determine if you need a “flush”. (That’s what “flush” is all about. It’s what happens to your $$$ when you fall for a “flushing”).

Many vehicles these days are using the WS (World Standard) fluid which is a life-time fluid. There is no transmission oil change interval. It only needs to be changed if it ever gets over heated. There’s an indicator light on the dash that tells you when the tranny fluid gets hot so you’ll know what it happens.

My Pontiac Vibe owners manual states that the transmission fluid is a lifetime fluid and that under normal conditions should never need to be changed. The Vibe uses Toyota T-IV fluid btw. The funny thing is, there is a drain plug on the transmission pan. How conveinient for a fluid than never needs to be changed. Needless to say, you’d have to be insane, and really lucky, to drive 250k+ on the same transmission fluid. Now if you get a free World Standard transmission replacement every 100k miles, great!

This seems on the surface of it to be a corporate scam by Toyota to contribute to the prosperity of their dealers and the company itself. Transmission fluid change is such a seldom thing and for an expensive car, it will not raise too many objections as the owners can certainly afford it. I say that it’s a plot by marketing people that they know that they can get away with. I am confident that Toyota engineers are talented enough and capable of designing an automatic transmission that can operate with ordinary fluid if they wanted it that way.

At $5/qt, 4 qts needed per fluid change. If every Toyota owner changed their fluid every 30k miles using only Toyota brand fluid, it wouldn’t even make a blip on their profit sheets, nor would any of their dealers get rich off that either (I’m sure some of them get rich, but not off the sales of transmission fluid).

A lot of transmissions can no longer tolerate Dexron III or IV fluid. Chrysler, Honda and Ford all have their own versions of transmission fluid that is required. $20 every 30k miles is an insignificant expense in the operation of a vehicle, it won’t even buy half a tank of gas in an economy car any more.